‘People used to try and kiss me!’ Ex-EastEnders actress Lindsey Coulson talks about life after the soap

A lot has changed for the star who is now heading up a detective team in ITV's gripping new murder-mystery thriller, The Level

Preview

BY LOUISE PURSER

24th September 2016, 2:29 am

Updated: 1st December 2016, 4:37 pm

As Lindsey Coulson makes her TV comeback in ITV’s fast-paced six-part whodunnit The Level, she may well have to say goodbye to the anonymity she’s enjoyed since quitting EastEnders last year.

ITV The Level

Lindsey Coulson stars as Michelle Newman in new ITV thriller The Level

“The other day I was on the train and nobody recognised me, and I thought: ‘This is really nice, I quite like it,’” laughs the 56-year-old actress, who left the role of Walford’s Carol Jackson in October 2015.

“I used to have people jump out and kiss me. I had someone from his car window going: ‘You! Tell me where I know you from!’ And a man in Sainsbury’s kept going: ‘Your face is familiar, your face is familiar...’

“People quite often think they went to school with me or they worked with me. Sometimes I put people out of their misery when they’re going: ‘Oh, I can’t place you...’ I say: ‘It might be EastEnders?’ and they go: ‘Oh, Carol!’ But it depends how quick I need to be somewhere because you can spend a lot of time doing that!”

ITV The Level

Her new character is a far cry from her days as Walford's Carol Jackson

ITV The Level

Rob James-Collier stars as DS Kevin O'Dowd

Of course, Carol wasn’t killed off…

“But I’m not sure how much more she could take as a character to be believable,” says Lindsey. “She had the death of a son, then she had cancer.

"I think, unless you change her completely, which I don’t think they’re up for doing, I don’t know what would be of interest to her that I haven’t already played. I’d like to explore other characters’ sides.

“But watch what I say in 10 years’ time. I’ll be too old to do it then, I don’t want to work
at that pace. I’m getting older and I like life in-between [acting jobs]. I cycle, I swim, I’ve got two children that I spend time with, a lovely husband and two dogs. I’m very privileged.”

Having played Albert Square’s Carol on and off for 22 years, between 1993 and 2015, Lindsey was keen to flex her acting muscles.

ITV The Level

There are a number of familiar faces in the series, including Amanda Burton who plays the wife of the murder victim

“The box I wanted to tick next was not to play any emotional women who had loads
of children,” she explains. “But it is weird finding a different character.”

That new character is no-nonsense Brighton Detective Chief Inspector Michelle Newman.
In The Level, one of Michelle’s colleagues, DS Nancy Devlin, is living a double life – she’s
been best friends since childhood with Hayley, the daughter of drugs trafficker Frank Le Saux (see who’s who, right), who Nancy helps out.

When a man is murdered and Nancy is caught – literally – in the crossfire, she must try to solve the case while keeping her dark secret under wraps…

ITV The Level

Estranged friends Nancy and Hayley are reunited when Nancy investigates a murder

“There’s a lot of police jargon, which is quite hard to learn,” says Lindsey. “But it’s nice to not be emotionally attached to something.

If somebody else can do the crying, that’s quite a relief now and is definitely what attracted
me to the role of Michelle.

“I also liked that women were producing The Level, and the women in it aren’t victims. We see a lot of women on telly as victims in police dramas. I like that [the DCI] is a woman.

Newman is authoritative and confident because she’s running a whole team, and I’m a little bit bossy myself, so it works!

The more you stride around with that air of power, the more powerful you feel.

There’s no way I could be a policewoman because the power would corrupt me. I felt like I could walk in anywhere and just show a badge!”